New from IMR: The Impact of Migrant Status on Health and the Mexican-American Health Paradox
January 22, 2016
The Winter 2015 edition of the International Migration Review (IMR) — the premier interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal in the field of international migration, ethnic group relations, and refugee movements — is now available in print and online by subscription or by purchasing instant access for individual articles.
A few highlights from the Winter 2015 edition include:
How Migrant Status Affects Health Beyond Socioeconomic Status: Evidence from Austria
Sascha Sardadvar
Socioeconomic status is known to influence health inequalities. However, it is unclear whether the influence of socioeconomic status sufficiently explains why migrant groups in European countries experience health disadvantages. Using data from Austria, this paper seeks to explain how both socioeconomic status and migrant status impact health outcomes. The results show that not only are particular migrant groups at a health disadvantage compared to others, but that this disadvantage is indeed a result of the interplay between socioeconomic status and migrant status. The authors find that migrant status may amplify health disadvantages in a number of ways, including through language barriers, lack of social capital, culture-related health behavior, and access to health provisions.
Explaining the Mexican-American Health Paradox Using Selectivity Effects
Jose N. Martinez, Ernesto Aguayo-Tellez, and Erick Rangel-Gonzalez
While they are typically socioeconomically disadvantaged, Mexican migrants in the United States tend to have better health outcomes than non-Hispanic whites. This phenomenon is known as the “Hispanic health paradox” (HHP). In this study, the authors seek to explain why HHP is observed and find that the paradox depends on selectivity — in this case, the migration from Mexico of persons with better health profiles than those remaining in Mexico. The authors, however, also find evidence that selectivity does not work the same way for different health conditions and across genders. Furthermore, the authors find that some of migrants’ health advantages are lost as they spend more time in the United States.
Additional original articles available in the Winter 2015 issue:
Redrawing the Contours of the Nation-State in Uruguay? The Vicissitudes of Emigration Policy in the 2000s
Ana Margheritis
Forecasting Immigration in Official Population Projections Using an Econometric Model
Ådne Cappelen, Terje Skjerpen and Marianne Tønnessen
Trajectories of English Acquisition among Foreign-born Spanish-Language Children in the United States
Gillian Stevens
The Decade of Immigrant Dispersion and Growth: A Cohort Analysis of Children of Immigrants’ Educational Experiences 1990-2002
Stephanie Potochnick and Margarita Mooney
Book Reviews
New IMR book reviews are also available. IMR book reviews are available for free for three years from the date of the review’s publication.
The Politics of Belonging: Race, Public Opinion, and Immigration by Natalie Masuoka and Jane Junn, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013
James E. Monogan III
American Value: Migrants, Money, and Meaning in El Salvador and the United States by Pedersen David, Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2013
Milton R. A. Machuca-Gálvez
On the Doorstep of Europe: Asylum and Citizenship in Greece by Heath Cabot, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 2014
Anna Triandafyllidou